Tuesday, November 30, 2010

As an FYI, I've gone offfline as far as the comments are concerned ...

... so anyone who wants a response form me, or who wants to correspond, should contact me directly. 

Muchas Thanks!

GP

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am looking to form a 4 person study group, based out of Orange County, for the upcoming February 2011 exam.

Important that you are not a first time taker, but rather a multiple exam taker.

Seeking the following 3 individuals:

1) First individual should be a 72%or better Essay writer, who lacks MBE and PT strenght.

2) Second individual should be a 72% or better MBE taker, who lacks Essay and PT strenght.

3) Third individual should be a 72%or better PT writer, who lacks Essay and MBE strenght.

I personally have a good grasp of the black letter law, but I am a terrible writer and have been average on my multiple choice part of the exam.

I think you are getting the hint here, if we can come together as a group and if we are all willing to bust some butt and not waste any time, perhaps this would be the key ingredient in all of us passing come next May.

I have tried just about everything in my past attempts, so I have nothing to lose, do you?

Please respond if you are seriously interested in being part of a group, as described above.

Thank you and good luck to all who are moving towards the next exam in february 2011.

November 30, 2010 3:35 PM

Anonymous said...

Just posted a little advice about my bar experience, hope it will be helpful to some folks! Be well.

http://barbegone.wordpress.com/

Anonymous said...

I don't know what that means. "I've gone offline as far as the comments are concerned." You haven't disabled comments. Does that mean you aren't going to respond to them online? Does it mean you aren't even going to read them? And what does being "offline" have to do with either?

I don't mean to nitpick, or be a jerk. But seriously: Your writing is unclear. Hint, hint.

Anonymous said...

anon 7:55, leave it alone. If you don't like it, go someplace else- we're tryin' to be productive here.
As for me, I'll give you all some free advice, seein' as I haven't passed yet and am not takin' the February bar:

Take your study routine seriously. I have regretted not adequately preparing for the beast on more than one occasion and chalked it up to 'life happening'.

No.
Life is irrelevant to the California Bar. You got bills, family, a job- (I got all 3),
forget about bein' able to juggle all this a pass the exam.

What you need to do is get rid of your distractions(I said it, but we all know it- even family, especially family and friends r distractions, and can be fatal to passin' this sucker)

So, in short, study study study
practice practice practice- all 3 aspects- MBE, essays and PTs
Then take care of yourself the week of the Bar, before it takes care of you.

Peace out, and early congrats to the 1 in 3 who likely will see their name on the list next May.
I'll see mine in the majority who took and passed July!

Anonymous said...

Poobah, my heart goes out to you. Passed the CBX on my 3rd try, and I did it by putting everything aside and getting it done. That means kissing friends and family goodbye, and quitting my job to be able to take BarBri. If you don't take it that seriously, and use the pretext of life to explain your failure, you will never pass. You need professional guidance, e.g., BarBri, BarPassers, PMBR, etc. Get her done Poobah, don't make this your white whale. Signed, an unemployed CA admitted lawyer in NYC.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 4:04 PM. Thank you for your honesty. This blog naturally focuses on passing the bar exam, but the reality of the job market for licensed attorneys is sobering. Let's hope when some of us eventually pass the Bar the job market will be better. Otherwise you spend time and money trying to pass an exam that makes you eligible to spend time and money trying to get a job.

Anonymous said...

I am in need of the latest Barbri MBE question book(s). If you just passed the July 2010 exam and are looking to dispose of, please let me know. Post a reply here and i will give you my personal email address. Thank you.

boston

Anonymous said...

If you received 1400 on the MBE, it would appear you have the request knowledge in those areas of law. In the CA specific subjects, the Bar tests in a straight forward manner, so, if you know your basic outlines, you should do decently. (Though, the Bar seems to love professional responsibility. A bore, but don’t give it the short shrift -- as say, will & trusts.)
It’s bullshit that you need to give up your life/ you have too many distractions to pass. You can easily pass on 4 hours studying a night for a period of 5-6 months. Your 1400 score shows you know the law well enough. You only need to learn how to take the test.

Anonymous said...

10 points of advice then:
Generally to review the law:
1. Highlight your Barbri or Barpasser books for each subject ONCE. Translate that to a 2 to 3 page outline for each subject... only go back to the books when you don’t fully understand an issue (RAP anyone?) 3 mos. before the test, you should have only a stack on outlines and MBE question books on your desk, NOT your text books, a law dictionary, Barbri’s, Aspen books, etc. (Don’t worry about using someone’s old review books. They’re fine)
2. Use the outlines you make from bar review books, not class outlines, friends’ or Fleming’s.
3. When practicing your MBE questions, answer them fully in you head in essay form. Do not waste your time trying to simulate getting through 100 questions in 3 hours. Most MBE books will explain the answers exactly how you should be writing your essays. (Aspen Stategies & Tactics for the MBE is worth a look)
4. Check out BarChart’s Quick Study outlines. They only help if you already know the law, but they’re relatively cheap, laminated (so you can review while on the treadmill/ toilet) and they’ll serve as a check on your own outlines. Note that the size of the area devoted to a subject corresponds to the importance/testability of the issue. Also I found, because of the color-coding and blocking I could visualize the entire outline while taking the exam. Where your outline is better, you’ll still be able to visualize it in the blocks of the Quick Study.
5. If you really don’t know a subject: check out Gilbert Law Summaries tapes/dvds and, I assume, downloads. If you can’t get a set of Barbri, or if you’re an audio leaner, go ahead and get the full set. You can make your outlines from the tapes and you can always listen to them over, over and over again.
6. Again, by the time you sit down to study for the bar, all you should have in front of you is your 3 page outlines and MBE books. You should be paring down your knowledge to, for example: Intentional torts IT = A B FI IIED / T TtC C, A = PA i RA o IB. Get it down to algebraic equations.
7. Strange bits of law you find in MBE problems should be added to your outline. (rules for auctions for example). If it’s tested enough for the publishers to include it, learn it.
8. Ditch the flash cards. An outline should give you enough to pass, and also put the information into context with related law.
9. Ditch most mnemonics (all of Fleming’s) MYLEGS, MYDOG, IPFBD, IDFMD are good because the address a specific questions of law, but “Jeff once made some spice revolting pork rice”? Worthless.
10. The weekend before the exam and during, DO NOT study. Spend an hour skimming your outlines (you should know them by heart now). Do 15-25 random MBE questions answering them in essay form. That’s it. Go for swim, to the hotel gym, watch TV. Only don’t: drink alcohol or eat a large meal. Only have coffee after the day’s session is over. (You’ll already be nervous, sweaty and have to piss at test time, coffee in the morning will only make it worse.)

Anonymous said...

9 points of advice then:
To review the law:
1. Highlight your Barbri or Barpasser books for each subject ONCE. Translate that to a 2 to 3 page outline for each subject... only go back to the books when you don’t fully understand an issue (RAP anyone?) 3 mos. before the test, you should have only a stack on outlines and MBE question books on your desk, NOT your text books, a law dictionary, Barbri’s, Aspen books, etc. (Don’t worry about using someone’s old review books. They’re fine)
2. Use the outlines you make from bar review books, not class outlines, friends’ or Fleming’s.
3. When practicing your MBE questions, answer them fully in you head in essay form. Do not waste your time trying to simulate getting through 100 questions in 3 hours. Most MBE books will explain the answers exactly how you should be writing your essays. (Aspen Stategies & Tactics for the MBE is worth a look)
4. Check out BarChart’s Quick Study outlines. They’re relatively cheap, laminated and they’ll serve as a check on your own outlines. Note that the size of the area devoted to a subject corresponds to the importance/testability of the issue. Also I found, because of the color-coding and blocking I could visualize the entire outline while taking the exam. Where your outline is better, you’ll still be able to visualize it in the blocks of the Quick Study.
5. Check out Gilbert Law Summaries tapes/dvds and, I assume, downloads. If you can’t get a set of Barbri, or if you’re an audio leaner, go ahead and get the full set. You can make your outlines from the tapes and you can always listen to them over, over and over again.
6. You should be paring down your knowledge to, for example: Intentional torts IT = A B FI IIED / T TtC C, A = PA i RA o IB. Get it down to algebraic equations.
7. Ditch the flash cards.
8. Ditch most mnemonics (all of Fleming’s)
9. The weekend before the exam and during, DO NOT study. Spend an hour skimming your outlines (you should know them by heart now). Do 15-25 random MBE questions answering them in essay form. That’s it. Go for swim, to the hotel gym, watch TV. Only don’t: drink alcohol or eat a large meal. Only have coffee after the day’s session is over. (You’ll already be nervous, sweaty and have to piss at test time, coffee in the morning will only make it worse.)

Anonymous said...

9 points of advice then:
To review the law:
1. Highlight your Barbri or Barpasser books for each subject ONCE. Translate that to a 2 to 3 page outline for each subject... only go back to the books when you don’t fully understand an issue.
2. Use the outlines you make from bar review books, not class outlines, friends’ or Fleming’s.
3. When practicing your MBE questions, answer them fully in you head in essay form. D. Most MBE books will explain the answers exactly how you should be writing your essays. (Aspen Stategies & Tactics for the MBE is worth a look)
4. Check out BarChart’s Quick Study outlines. They’re relatively cheap, laminated and they’ll serve as a check on your own outlines. Note that the size of the area devoted to a subject corresponds to the importance/testability of the issue. Also I found, because of the color-coding and blocking I could visualize the entire outline while taking the exam. Where your outline is better, you’ll still be able to visualize it in the blocks of the Quick Study.
5. Check out Gilbert Law Summaries tapes/dvds and, I assume, downloads. If you can’t get a set of Barbri, or if you’re an audio leaner, go ahead and get the full set. You can make your outlines from the tapes and you can always listen to them over, over and over again.
6. You should be paring down your knowledge to algebraic equations: Intentional torts IT = A B FI IIED / T TtC C, A = PA i RA o IB.
7. Ditch the flash cards.
8. Ditch most mnemonics (all of Fleming’s)
9. The weekend before the exam and during, DO NOT study. Spend an hour skimming your outlines (you should know them by heart now). Do 15-25 random MBE questions answering them in essay form. That’s it. Go for swim, to the hotel gym, watch TV. Only don’t: drink alcohol or eat a large meal. Only have coffee after the day’s session is over. (You’ll already be nervous, sweaty and have to piss at test time, coffee in the morning will only make it worse.)

Anonymous said...

Hey Boston,

I just passed the CA July 2010 test and I have the CA MBE book as well as the in class workbook that I am looking to unload. So let me know if you want it.

Hope

Anonymous said...

Does anyone have any old beat-the-bar outlines or attack sheets they don't mind getting rid of? I am looking for last minute supplements for the February bar in California and I heard those two were particularly effective.


Holly